Distribution system for shoe factories



1934- M. o. FROST ET AL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR SHOE FACTORIES Original Fild June 20, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 18, 1934. M, o. FROST ET AL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR SHOE FACTORIES Original Filed June 20, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 18, 1934. M, O, FROST ET AL 1,984,367

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR SHOE FACTORIES Original Filed June 20, 1952 4 Sheets$heet 4 //5 III /55 am T/ON NUMBER OPERATOR/010M661? Patented Dec. 18, 1934 UNITED AT S P TENT OFFICE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR SHOE FAGTORIES 618,251. Divided and this application'Novemrber 16, 1932, Serial No. 642,915 r 12 Claims.

This invention relates to distribution systems for shoe factories and with regard to-certain more specific features, to selective distributionsystems for such factories. V

This invention is ardivision of the invention set forth in our patentapplication, Serial Number 618,251, filed June 20, 1932, for Distribution sys tem for shoe factories. 7

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a selective distribution system for shoe factories wherein agiven operator may determine the manner 'ofdistrib'ution according to the requirements of other operators or according to other variables; the provision of apparatus of the class described inwhich said other operators may indicate to the distributing operator that more work isrequired if this'sh'ould be the case; the provision of apparatus of the class described which shall be operative upon in- 39 dividual pieces or aggregates of a' number of pieces; and the provision of improved apparatus for carrying out the above ends. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicatedin the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated one of various'possible' embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a; basket releasing mechanism ofFig. 1; I

Fig; 3 is a plan view of said basket releasing mechanism of Fig. 2, parts beingbroken away to show certain details;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing said basket releasing mechanism in connection with associated parts;

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken' substantially along line 5--5 of Fig. 1; a p

Fig. 6 is a cross section takensubstantially along line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation-illustrating an indicating system in connection witha' basket"; and, S

Fig. 8' is a sectional viewof Fig; 7.

operators are seated at stations such-asatpoints Similar reference characters indicate corre-' Baskets are used for retaining a plurality of pieces or bundles of pieces, to be delivered to the operators or groups of operators. In this invention there is also provided the table-63 upon which are uprights 65 for supporting a'pair of upper and lower rails 67,.the latter functioning to support rolling carriages 69. The carriages 69' are gravitationally suspended from upper grooved wheels 71, and are prevented from swinging inwardly by horizontally arranged roller'su73.riding on the sides of thelower rails.

The carriages 69 are driven by means of an endless chain'75, passing over corner sprockets 77, '77! and having attachments 79 with said carriages 69. A source of power 81 (Fig.5) and a speed reducer 83 with suitable'clriving. connections 85 to' the corner sprocket .77 results in the chain being driven around the circuit, thus drawingthe carriages around their circuit on the rails 67.

As shown in Figs. 5. and 6, the rails 67 arenot continuous at the corners, but areheld together by means of straps87, so far as the upper rails areconcerned, and bymeans of channels 89, so far as the lower rails are concerned. The sides of the upper supporting wheels 71 of the car.- riages 69 ride against the outsides of the straps 87, whereas the rollers 73 fit into the channels 89 and serve to gravitationally support said carriages 69 as they round the corners. Thus the function of supporting the carriages is transferred fromthe wheels 71 to the 'singleroller73 at the-time of negotiating the said corners. It

will be seen that this construction obviates the.

difilculty of causing two grooved wheelssuch as 71 to traverse a sharp corner'on a rail inthe grooves, said traverse being effected with the supporting action of roller 73 instead, there being only one lower roller 73 to a carriage 69 which roller readily traverses any degree of 99'isadapted to-hold up the cantilever 91 when unloaded but the spring 99 is not strong enough to hold the cantilever up when loaded with the basket 95. Under the latter condition, the cantilever 91 is held up by a catch 101 pivoted to the carriage at 103 and normally held to catch a lug 105 on the cantilever 91 so as to hold up the cantilever. The normal holding action of the catch 101 is effected by a spring 107.

In order to cause the catch 101 to release the cantilever 91 to cause the same to drop the basket 95, there is provided a bell crank 109 pivoted at 111 to the respective carriages 69. This bell crank has a connection 113 with the catch 101 and has an extending tail portion 115 for purposes to be described.

At a point at which it is desired to separate a basket 95 from the cantilever 91, there is pro-- vided a channel chute 117 having an upper fiat portion 118, a sloping portion 119 and a lower.

fiat portion of rest, 121. The upper portion of the chute 117 is adapted to receive the baskets 95 and in order to drop the basket from the cantilever 91, there is provided above the chute 117 an extension 123 having a rotatable sleeve 125 at one end of which is attached a follower lever 127. At the other end of the sleeve 125 is attached a releasing lever 129, the lever 129 being adapted to be rotated by means of the sleeve 125 under the rotating action of the lever 127, that is to say, both the levers 127 and 129 rotate together with the sleeve 125.

A spring 131 reacting from a fixed arm 133 serves to draw an arm 135 attached to said sleeve 125 against a stop 137.

The purpose of the arm 127 is to be contacted by a selectively placed extension 141 from the basket 95 so that counterclockwise rotation of the arm 127 (Fig. 2) may be effected, and thus similar rotation of the releasing arm 129. The carriage moves to the right in Fig. 2. The arm 129 contacts the tail piece 115 to rotate the bell crank 109 so as to cause said catch 101 todrop the cantilever 91 and hence release the basket 95 (see Fig. 2). The basket is released to a point such that its center of gravity is beyond the upper level portion 118 of the chute 117 and on the sloping portion 119, thus causing the basket to descend to the lower level 121, as indicated in dotted line in said Fig. 2.

After the basket has been dropped, the cantilever 91 returns under the action of the spring 99 and inasmuch as the carriage 69 has moved on to a point beyond the depressed arm 129, said arm 129 having also returned because of the descent of the extension 141, the cantilever 91 raises and the catch 101 is caused by means of the spring 107 to support the same for the next application of a basket 95.

One of the features of this invention is the provision on the bail of the basket 95 of a series of recesses 139 into anyone of which the distributing operator may selectively place the selector pin 141, said pin being that which strikes the follower lever 127. Each sleeve 125 fixedly carries its arm 127. The arm 127 has a hub 143 which is held to the sleeve 125 by a set screw 145. Upon loosening the set screw 145, the hub may be slipped along the sleeve 125 so as to set the arm 127 where desired, "referring to lateral positioning. I

Thus, each operator located at the base of the chute 117 has his lever 127 adjusted in lateral position so as to be engaged by a pin 141 when said pin is set in a particular recess 139. The result is that the distributing operator, by

selectively placing a pin 141 on a given basket, may select the station at which the basket shall drop ofi. Having dropped off at the stop, the basket descends the respective chute 117 to the operator at 121. Any desired number of the knock-off mechanisms may be installed so as to distribute as desired the baskets holding work.

It will be understood that the pins 141 fit snugly into the recesses 139 and are removable therefrom.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 7, lugs 147 predetermine the position of the baskets on the cantilever and insure that the same are forced forwardly as the respective pin 141 engages the follower lever 127.

Figs". 7 and 8 show another feature of the invention comprising a depending support 149 provided only at the station of the distributing operator such as, for instance, station Y (Fig. 1). The suspension 149 carries a finger 151 which extends longitudinally of the length of travel of the cantilevers 91 and to one side thereof. Each receiving operator located at a station such as X is provided with markers or tabs 153. Each marker has a hook 155 for hooking over the extensions 157 of the cantilevers 91 and an eye 158 adapted to pass over the finger 151 as the extension 157 to which the marker is applied passes said finger 151. Each operators tab 153 carries the number of the operators station at the top, and the operators number at the bottom, and inasmuch as there may be several operators at a given station, several tags may have the same upper number and different lower numbers.

An operator at a given station, when work is near depletion, places upon the extension 157 a tag 153 which indicates the station and operator out of work. When returning the basket, the operator also resets the pin 141 to engage the respective lever 127 at the distributing operators station so that the returning empty basket shall be tripped off at said distributing operator.

Thus as the basket is replaced on a cantilever 91 of a carriage 65 and as it returns to the station Y, the finger 151 picks 011 the respective tag 153, or the tags may be applied to cantilevers 91 which are not carrying baskets, as when it is desired to carry the tag to the home station Y ahead of the time that the basket might reach it. This method of returning the tags results in the receiving operator being able to indicate to the distributing operator when work is short,

ahead of the time that more material is needed,

so as to take out of the operation the lag that would otherwise occur. It will be apparent that the tags 153 gather on the finger 151 in the order that the various operators become out of work. Thus, the distributing operator by noting the sequence of said tags 153 on the finger 151 may make an intelligent, sequential distribution in accordance with'observation. Openings 159 permit the tags 153 to be taken from the finger 151 when a distributing operator has discharged her duty in regard to the same.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

The distributing operator is located at station Y and has a plurality of baskets and work to be supplied. The distributing operator assorts the work and places it in baskets, according to a predetermined schedule. She then inserts a pin 141 into the proper recess 139 adapted to drop the basket olT at a desired station, for instance, at the first station X, passing counterclockwise from the station Y. She then hooks the bail of the basket over the next cantilever 91 which passes. The basket is thus carried about to said station X where the pin 141 engages the respective properly adjusted follower lever 12'! and forces the leverto'turn the contact lever 129 down against the tail piece 115 to release the pin 105 from the hold of the catch 101, thereby permitting the weight of' the basket to turn the cantilever 91' clockwise, the basket sliding off of the cantilever 91' and into the chute 117 at station X. The basket slides down the chute to the bottom thereof, where an operator at station X takes off the basket, and empties it.

Sooner or later, an operator at station X returns the basket to the cantilever 91 of some succeeding carriage 69' onwhich the cantilever 91' has again been automatically hooked up, as has been made clear above. The operator at this time, if proper, applies the proper tag 153 to indicate the station number 1 from which the basket is returning thus indicating the operator or'operators out of work.

It is to be understood that several operators may be working at a station such as X and'all of them receive their work from a given basket.

I It is also to be understoodthat, if desired, an operator at one station may remove a desired amount of material and then reset'the pin 141 so that.

the basket 95, instead of going to the home station Y, will drop off at a next succeeding work station X. The operator at the succeeding station then empties the basket and replaces it on the respective cantilever 91 to return it to the home station Y. This process may be repeated as often as desired. If several operators have had charge of the basket, several tags 153 may be applied to the side of the basket in the proper sequence adapted to indicate on the finger 151 and to the distributing operator, the sequence in which the variousoperators-along the line became out of work.

Providing the distributing operator with the same kind of a trip' at station Y as is placed at station X is advantageous. If the distributing operator at station Y had" a universal trip, adapted to be tripped by a pin 141 in any one of the recesses 149, there would result confusion because a preceding operator at a station X might reset a pin 141 soas to effect tripping at a succeeding station. By means of the present invention, the pin is set in a recess 149 corresponding to the position of the distributing operators lever, thus avoiding all of the other levers, and preventing improper tripping.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. In shoe machinery, conveying means, riers adapted to be applied to said conveying means to be moved thereby from a distributing station, movable tripping means, said tripping means being adapted to be selectively placed on the carriers, means engageable at receiving stations with said tripping means to release the carriers at predetermined stations, tags applicable to the carriers at said receiving stations, said carriers being returnable to the conveying carmeans, and means at said distributing station for automatically removing said tags from said carriers in the order of the approach of said carj riers tosaid distributing station.

' 2. In apparatus of the class described, upper and lower rails arranged in series, the upper series ofsaid rails being joined at curves by straps and the lower ones of said rails being joined by channels,carriages, grooved wheels engaging the upper rails in the grooves for supporting said carriages, a roller engageable with the lower rails to steady each carriage, said lower roller engaging said channel at the corners as the respective carriage is drawn about said corners, and common means for drawing all of said carriages along the rails.

; 3. In apparatus of the class described, upper and lower rails arranged in series, the upper series of said rails being joined at curves by straps and the lower ones of said rails being joined by channels, carriages, grooved wheels engaging the upper rails in the grooves for supporting said carriages, a roller engageablewith the lower rails to steady'each carriage, said lower roller engaging said channel at the corners as the respective carriage is drawn about said corners, and common means for drawing all of said carriages along the rails, and supporting means extending from said carriages away from said rails, the overhang of the supporting means forcing the rollers against the sides of the lower rails.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a rail, a carriage moving on the rail, means for driving the carriage, a cantilever supporton the carriage, a

basket, a bail .on said basket supported by the cantilever, adjustable releasing means associated with the bail, a latch normally holding the cantilever in supporting position, a follower adapted to be engaged bysaid releasing means when the latter is in a predetermined position on the bail, and means movable by said follower adapted to unlatch said cantilever whereby gravity forces the basket therefrom.

.5. In apparatus of the class described, a rail, a carriage movingjon the rail, means for driving the carriage, a cantilever support on the carriage, a basket, a bail on said basket supported by the cantilever, adjustable releasing means associated with the bail,a latch normally holding the cantilever in supporting position, a follower adapted to be engaged by said releasing means when the latter is in a predetermined position on the bail, means movable by saidfollower adapted to unlatch said cantilever whereby gravity forces the basket therefrom, and means for automatically returning the cantilever to supporting position after said basket has dropped.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a rail, a carriage moving on the rail, means for driving the carriage, a cantilever support on the carriage, a basket, a bail on said basket supported by the cantilever, adjustable releasing means associated with the bail, a latch normally holding the cantilever in supporting position, a follower adapted to be engaged by said releasing means when the latter is in a predetermined position on the bail, means movable by said follower adapted to unlatch said cantilever whereby gravity forces the basket therefrom, means for automatically returning the cantilever to supporting position after said basket has dropped, and a chute adapted to receive the basket and deliver it to a receiving station.

'7. In apparatus of the class described, a moving carriage, a cantilever thereon, means for latch ing the cantilever in supporting position, said cantilever being automatically spring-returned to said supporting position, a basket, a bail on the basket supported by the cantilever, adjustable releasing means associated with the basket, a follower adapted to be contacted by said releasing means when the releasing means is predeterminately positioned, and mechanism extending between the follower and said latch when the releasing means and the follower engage whereby the cantilever is released to drop the basket.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a moving carriage, a cantilever thereon, means for latching the cantilever in supporting position, said cantilever being automatically spring-returned to said supporting position, a basket, a bail on the basket supported by the cantilever, adjustable releasing means associated with the basket, a follower adapted to be contacted by said releasing means when the releasing means is predeterminately positioned, and mechanism extending between the follower and said latch when the releasing means and the follower engage whereby the cantilever is released to drop the basket, said mechanism disengaging upon separation of the releasing means from the follower so that the latch shall hold the cantilever upon return of the latter.

9. In apparatus of the class described, a moving carriage, a supporting member thereon, means for latching the supporting member in supporting position, means for automatically returning said supporting means to latched position after unloading the same, a container, means on the container supported by the supporting member, adjustable releasing means associated with the container, a follower adapted to be contacted by the releasing means when the releasing means is predeterminately positioned on the container, and mechanism articulated between the follower and said latch when the releasing means engages the follower, whereby the supporting means is released to drop the basket.

10. In apparatus of the class described, a moving carriage, a supporting member thereon, means for latching the supporting member in supporting position, means for automatically returning said supporting means to latched position after unloading the same, a container, means on the container supported by the supporting member, adjustable releasing means associated with the container, a follower adapted to be contacted by the releasing means when the releasing means is predeterminately positioned on the container, and mechanism articulated between the follower and said latch when the releasing means engages the follower, whereby the supporting means is released to drop the basket, said mechanism being disconnected when the releasing means and the follower disconnect, said supporting means being automatically returned to supporting position.

11. In apparatus of the class described, a moving carriage, a supporting member thereon, means for latching the supporting member in supporting position, means for automatically returning said supporting means to latched position after unloading the same, a container, means on the container supported by the supporting member, adjustable releasing means associated with the container, a follower adapted to be contacted by the releasing means when the releasing means is predeterminately positioned on the container, and mechanism articulated between the follower and said latch when the releasing means engages the follower, whereby the supporting means is released to drop the basket, said mechanism being disconnected when the releasing means and the follower disconnect, said supporting means being automatically returned to supporting position, and a chute adapted to receive released containers and deliver them to a receiving station.

12. In apparatus of the class described, conveying means, carriers adapted to be applied to the conveying means at a distributing station and removed therefrom at receiving stations, and reapplied at said receiving stations, tags applicable to the carriers at said receiving stations after which the carriers are returned to the conveying means, and means at said distributing station adapted to automatically remove said tags from said carriers in the order of the approach of said carriers to the distributing station.

MYRON O. FROST. PETER MATTLER. 

